Wagon Recs

[stormboy1]

Hi all! I’m in the market for a baby/toddler wagon and don’t even know where to begin my research. I honestly am not even sure what features wagons can have so I don’t know what I’m missing as I compare. I’d love some help:

• currently have a 1 y/o who loves her stroller and is happy to sit in it and look around
• will hopefully have another child in 1-2 years so ideally would fit 2 (one being 4-5+)
• would love to use it for beach? Is that an option?
• not super price conscious. We don’t want to pay more for the sake of paying more but would prefer to get long lasting, good quality and are happy to pay for that

What am I missing as far as requirements or options? Anyone have wagon opinions? I’m not even sure I know the use case for one vs. a stroller

 

[green520]

@stormboy1 I love my larktale caravan. I have a 3yo and a 5mo. I used the car seat adaptor for the first few months, and now baby can sit in the seat. What i looked for:

Seat backs high enough a kid could nap if they were tired.

Footwell so kids can put their feet somewhere besides next to each other’s bodies

Sunshades

Folds up easily (wheels and canopies come off)

Doesn’t weight 60 pounds (looking at you, wonderfold!)

A snack tray would be nice but isn’t a deal breaker.

 

[jaenalyn]

@stormboy1 Ugh I wish there were better beach wagons for kids.

Do the beaches you go to have stairs over the dunes? Or are you able to use a ramp/wheelchair boardwalk? Because if you have stairs I’m just going to go ahead and say baby wearing is the way to go. Plus a big backpack of gear.

Cybex sells strollers with sand skis for $$$

Bugaboo Buffalo (RIP) would convert to 2wheel pulling mode for sand. I have an old one and have used pulling mode on snow and it worked well. Same for a few city steps.

Veer wagons have wide hard tires that claim they do sand but again you’d have to get kid out, down stairs, then move wagon over stairs. Reviews are iffy, no personal experience.

Edit: looks like veer is making beach ballon wheels! Not out yet. The wheels alone are $250. Ouch

What most people do is have a beater Bob and they tip it back and pull it behind them reasonably well over sand. You can do kid strapped in down the stairs backwards if you’re reasonably strong or have two people. But that’s 1 kid not 2.

Two kids at the beach, pre-walking just kinda sucks.

Any stroller that goes to the beach regularly is going to rust and need greasing. A sun bleached to hell 5yo Bob on FB marketplace is not fancy but will do the job.

 

[kristih]

@jaenalyn Yes you are spot on about all of this here.

It’s a very important distinction about sand and the wheels. Where I live the sand is super soft so balloon wheels are the only way to go. Hard or even the “fat” wheels won’t do the trick. And you’ll be dragging a wagon through the sand.

Baby wearing is def clutch. I have an almost 2yo I take to the beach solo pretty often and it’s super helpful. Also you don’t need to bring a chair, just a blanket. It’s not like you get to relax and sit my old yard sale $25 BOB def does the trick in the sand!

About to have baby 2 and I’m hoping I can figure out how to get them to the beach solo efficiently.

ETA: the one solution I e thought about it buying a balloon wheel kit for a regular cargo wagon. It’s about a $100 upgrade but I do have a cheapie wagon for hauling stuff and I think it would work!

 

[jaenalyn]

@kristih Good luck! I’m so happy that my baby #2 is old enough to do stairs and maybe even carry her own sand pail this year.

 

[kristih]

@jaenalyn Thanks! Mine is too, he’s just a little leach and prefers to be held all the time haha!

 

[jaenalyn]

Also re-reading your question, I did use a wagon a lot with one 1-2yo for grocery shopping and farmer’s markets. It was fantastic as we walked to and from the store. Day to day, like going to a park or a doctors visit or the mall, completely impractical. Huge and in the way.

I considered strollers with storage compartments or “market” baskets like the bugaboo donkey, the Cybex Gazelle, and the baby jogger city select Lux. But ultimately a wagon won out.

 

[relle25]

@stormboy1 I think it probably comes down to your lifestyle and what type of surfaces you'd be using it on, etc- I'm in an urban European city and virtually no one uses wagons here for three reasons: lots of narrow sidewalks and sometimes cobblestones makes them not very easy to pull, they're not great for public transit (especially buses and trams), most kids here are out of the stroller around age 3 for the most part and just walk or ride their bikes or whatnot when going out and about especially if it's not a super long distance. My friends back in the US like their wagons, but I think it makes more sense with their lifestyles and location- they are often living in suburbs with massive sidewalks and smooth pavement, they aren't using them for long distances, and they get around primarily by car, so public transit isn't a consideration.

 

[bible_follower]

@stormboy1 I have a Larktale, which my almost 5 year old still uses along with my 2 year old. We do take it to the beach - I don't go far or anything with it, it's not really built for that, but I can push it down the ramp and to a spot to set up our stuff somewhere. I do have the kids get out before pushing it through sand.

The only downside is that they sometimes fight/kick each other in it.

 

[12lostinlife21]

@stormboy1 I love my Evenflo pivot xplore! If I was buying a new one now, I would go for the new dreamz version for the bigger canopy and the nap module. It pushes like 90% as well as a veer but for less than half the price, and the important accessories are already included. I push it on every surface except for the beach where I have to pull it, and I love that there's an option to buy an attachable seat for if I have a second kid to keep some space available for bags, etc.